Manager, Program Management - Manufacturing (R4741)

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

Lead the execution of complex manufacturing programs that bring advanced products from concept to production. In this role, you will drive cross-functional alignment across engineering, supply chain, and operations, ensuring plans, resources, and readiness come together to meet critical milestones. You’ll play a key role in turning strategy into reality—removing obstacles, maintaining momentum, and enabling teams to deliver at scale.

What you'll do::
• Own and maintain the integrated manufacturing program plan, critical path, and dependencies across Production, Manufacturing Engineering, Construction, MP&L, Supply Chain, Quality, Test and Engineering.

• Serve as the primary manufacturing program interface to Product Development Program Management—aligning build schedules, release plans, readiness milestones, and decision points.

• Run the operating cadence: weekly cross-functional program reviews, action/issue tracking, decision logs, and escalation of blockers to maintain execution tempo.

• Drive manufacturing readiness gates (prototype builds → pilot → production ramp): define entry/exit criteria, verify deliverable completion, and surface gaps early.

• Coordinate material readiness and supply risk: align BOM maturity, lead-time constraints, supplier readiness, and mitigation plans with build schedules.

• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering and supporting teams to ensure line readiness deliverables are planned and tracked (tooling/equipment readiness, routings, work instructions, training, and documentation).

• Coordinate change management impacts to manufacturing (ECR/ECO cut-in plans, retrofit strategies, configuration alignment) to protect schedule and build integrity.

• Partner with Quality to align inspection/test readiness, nonconformance workflow expectations, and closure of systemic issues that threaten program milestones.

• Integrate facilities/equipment milestones into the program plan and coordinate cross-functional readiness for space, utilities, and installation/commissioning dependencies.

• Implement and maintain program controls: risk register, schedule variance reporting, KPI dashboards, and concise executive updates for manufacturing program status.

• Be a floor-present problem solver when needed—rapidly translating real execution constraints into plan updates and clear cross-functional actions.

Required qualifications::
• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical / aerospace Engineering, or related field.

• Significant experience in aerospace or advanced manufacturing, with 5+ years in program leadership roles.

• Proven success in facility or production program setup, especially in a startup or high-growth environment.

• Strong background in program execution and operational planning across engineering and manufacturing domains.

Preferred qualifications::
• Master’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Systems, or Operations Management.

• Experience leading cross-functional teams in aerospace or defense industries.

• Demonstrated ability to deliver production facilities and new program manufacturing readiness on aggressive timelines.

• Familiarity with new product introduction (NPI) and manufacturing systems planning at scale.

• Greenfield facility development experience.

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Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.